The Thing About Love
by Utsukushii Kohana
Summary: 50 sweet moments between Ross and Rachel. Set after the end of the series.
1. Adoration

**The Thing About Love**

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**A/N:** Written for the 50 Scenes Challenge on Livejournal.

**Prompt #26: **Adoration

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"Oh my, you have the cutest baby girl!"

Startled at the interjection in the centre of the park, Ross stopped walking around and pushing the buggy in which his child was peacefully napping, and watched a gorgeous woman approaching him. A soft smile appeared from below her fashionably big hat as she tilted her head back to look up to him, directly in his eyes. He guessed her to be in her mid-twenties now that he finally saw her, her skin still so smooth and wrinkle-free, her amber eyes shining brightly like the warm sun hanging high in the air and her wavy chest-nut hair flowing down to her mid-back.

Ross mirrored the smile immediately and replied grateful at the welcomed comment, although a bit stutter-y, "Thank you."

The woman giggled at the cute bashfulness, causing Ross's cheeks to turn pink at the attention and lovely sound, but she promptly channelled her focus on the sleeping toddler. She crouched down, whilst pressing her knee-long skirt tightly to her legs to keep peeking folks away, to be on eye level with Ross's little girl. Grinning at the adorable sight in front of her, she noticed some writing on the child's security blanket and squinted her eyes at it.

"Emma," she whispered as she read the name and then cast her gaze back at Ross, "That's a beautiful name for a beautiful baby," she said, standing back up again. As she swept her eyes observantly over Ross's body, she smirked coyly when she added, "I can see where she got it from."

Staring back wide-eyed at the young woman, Ross's blush only deepened as the sudden, very seductive compliment sank in. He quickly snapped out of it and chuckled contently when he looked down at Emma. "No, no," he asserted resolutely, his brown eyes twinkling, "I can say without a doubt that she gets her cuteness from her mother."

**X**

It was crowded at the kindergarten, she noticed when dozens of toddlers flashed by in swarms around her legs. She decided it would best to stay put so that a) she wouldn't hurt any of the kids by accidentally kneeing them and b) she could focus more on finding her own girl within the scurrying mass.

Finally, once most of the kids had run outside the school hall, she spotted her child standing next to the teacher. "Hey, Emma!" she cried out, waving at her and capturing the attention of the giddy little brunette.

"Mommy!" Emma shouted back, whilst running up to her with her chubby little hands in the air indicating she wanted to be picked up.

"Hello, Miss Green," the teacher addressed Rachel politely, wearing a charming smile as she joined the pair, "I must say that your daughter is very wise beyond her age already."

"Oh really?" Rachel's lips upturned into a smile, her eyes darting from Emma back to the kindergarten teacher.

The woman nodded, her hazel orbs cast at the young girl in Rachel's arms. "Yes. She's always the first one to finish the puzzles. She's better at grasping the English language than the other students. She's—,"

As she continued to listen to the exceeding praise, Rachel beamed with pride for her daughter. Even though she'd always prevented Ross from turning their cute baby girl into such a knowledge freak like him, she secretly adored the palaeontologist for putting all that effort into it and making her the best of her class now.

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**A/N:** Feedback is appreciated.

_6/2/2008_

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	2. Anger

**The Thing About Love**

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**Prompt #2****4: **Anger

**Disclaimer: **Don't own. (_4/5/2011)_

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Joey isn't angry, despite what everyone thinks.

No, he really and truly is _not_. Not even sad nor mournful nor sorry.

He doesn't even understand why they all think so. Just recently Phoebe had swung by in LA to check up on him. And also to announce that she was pregnant of Mike's baby. She didn't want to tell him that big a news over the phone so she had promptly—according to Mike's slightly annoyed-tone told story—hauled a cab to take them to JFK and buy tickets to go to the west. After her excited and giddy narration, she wanted to know he was doing. He merely replied with a fine, but she obviously didn't believe him but he kept on insisting that he was so she dropped it. Thankfully.

Why would he be angry? Every single one of his friends are doing great. Phoebe is with child, still living in her apartment by Central Park with her husband while Monica and Chandler have long settled in their new house, happily raising their twins who have grown by now into two lovely toddlers. And Ross and Rachel... Well, they have apparently moved to Scarsdale, like Ross had always wanted. He had even popped the big question to her the same way he always intended to. Her answer was of course yes.

Ok, maybe, considering about it, even flash-backing to when she said yes to him mistakenly thinking he'd proposed to her and how lucky he felt, he isn't really _joyful_ about it. Sure he's happy _for_ them but not _about_ it in general.

He did love Rachel. Still does. And yes, he still dreams of having the merry, have-lots-of-babies- together, can't-stand-not-being-with-you kind of life with her.

But it doesn't matter in the end. He has always believed Ross and Rachel are lobsters. (He's just the crab who served as a complication.) More than once rooted for them. If this wasn't real life, he'd have been an avid and rabid shipper, debating in their favour and writing fanfiction.

So really, people should trust when he says he isn't angry.


	3. Regret

**The Thing About Love**

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**Prompt #32: **Regret

**Disclaimer: **Don't own. (_9/4/2011)_

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Rachel Green sometimes wondered what her life would have been like if she did get on the plane.

She gathered that she'd be working 24/7, rummaging through stacks of papers on her desk, making phone call after phone call, only to come home to an empty living room, feeling lonely. Emma would already be sound asleep and she wouldn't have any real friends outside of the office because she wouldn't speak a word of French. Truth be told, she tried taking it in college and flunked out because she utterly sucked at learning new languages.

Then she'd come back to reality, watching how Ross would sit next to her on the couch, rubbing her feet which would lay on his lap and telling her how his day at the university went and asking her how her day was.

And she just knew she would have regretted not getting off that plane.


End file.
